Building A Fan Club by Katy Churchill
I recently bit the bullet and launched a fan club (I went with OnlyFans, but the tips below can be used on virtually any platform). I carefully planned the launch, taking notes from other models’ experiences, and ended up with more initial joiners than expected, and more coming on board every day. As someone who was reluctant to build a full membership site, I’ve found a fan club to offer the same monthly rebill income potential with a more fluid, social media-style feed format that appeals to the Twitter addict in me. If you’re considering hopping on the fan club train–or you want to “relaunch” a fan club that is currently floundering–follow these 4 tips to start with a splash!
Load Content Before Launch
On the off-chance that someone signs up for your fan club on day 1 (it happened to me!), you’ll want to make sure that they’ve got something to look at right away. You don’t need to have hundreds of photos or dozens of videos, though. I uploaded 3 photo sets (about 10-15 photos each) and 1 video in the week between opening my account and the day I started promoting. Depending on how often you plan to add new content, you might want to add 30-50 photos and 1-3 videos to start off. The less frequently you plan to upload fresh content, the more you should have available on day 1.
Schedule Consistent Content
Set an upload schedule and stick to it. It may not seem worth it to plan out your uploads and add new content when you only have 1 or 2 subscribers, but stick with it. Customers who are on the fence will see the consistently increasing volume of content on your feed, which could be the deciding factor. Some fan club platforms have an advance-scheduling feature (Only Fans, MAYBE SOME OTHER ONES IDK, and iWantFanClub all have queues), so take advantage of it! Fill up that queue as far in advance as you can, so that your content will release on autopilot. If your chosen platform doesn’t have a scheduling feature, set an alarm in your phone to make sure you don’t miss your planned uploads. Consistent content releases are key to making sure your subscribers stay month after month, giving you that sweet re-bill cash.
Offer An Introductory Rate
Why do sites like Fashion Nova have a big countdown clock for their current sale? Because it works! Adding a sense of urgency to your call to action can persuade a potential customer to pull the trigger on a discounted rate. Launch your subscription with an introductory rate about $2-3/month lower than your target price point, and choose a specific date to raise the rate up. The opportunity to get a lower rate locked in for the lifetime of their subscription (saving $25 or so annually) can be a great way to recruit and reward early adopters.
Promote heavily on social media
The best estimate is that just 3-5% of your Twitter followers will see any one of your tweets. If you’re promoting something, you can go fairly hard on Twitter as long as you maintain balance in your feed (retweeting others, etc). Use a platform like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to schedule daily posts about your new fanclub–include your introductory rate, the deadline to subscribe to lock in the deal, and (of course) the link to join. Tell your followers what kind of content you post and how often.
Using Canva For Social Media Graphics
Creating simple graphics in Canva can be very helpful–use their templates to create the correct sizes to easily promote on any platform. I made two different graphics for Twitter, as well as a vertical option to post on Snapchat and Instagram stories. Even once you are through your launch period, promote your fan club. Give your social media followers peeks at the content you’re posting, advertise the price, and list the content they get for their monthly payment. Offering a photo, brief video preview, or GIF with your promo post will prevent your followers feeling like you are spamming them with promotion. Tag your regular promoter accounts, too!
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